Fans with a philanthropic touch

Publication: The Times Of India - Chennai; Date: May 23, 2009; Section: Times City; Page: 4

Fans with a philanthropic touch

In This Series, We Meet Unusual Groups. This Week, Spend Time With SPB’s Fans

Kamini Mathai | TNN

He’s is one of the best playback singers in the country with more than 37,000 songs to his credit. He can add more life and style to a song than most singers in the industry. But those are not the only reasons why the SP Balasubramaniam fan club has grown in numbers over the years. It’s because of the man himself.

“We do not meet to just to discuss SPB’s songs and music. That is one part of it, but this club was formed because we want to imbibe SPB’s character in our lives, and absorb his good qualities,” says R Ashok, 33, an accountant with a software company, and member of the group. There are doctors, singers, software engineers, chemical engineers and more in this group.

Although the group was formed online in 2003, pretty soon the members started arranging for frequent meetings in the city. “We have evolved as a group. In the beginning, we just met and discussed his songs. But after a couple of years, we thought, why not learn from SPB. He is charitable and humble as a person. So we started going to orphanages and doing charitable work,” says Ashok.

Says S Seshadhri, 42, a software project manager and member of the group, “What drew me to this group is the fact that they do charitable work. It’s SPB’s character as much as his voice that makes me a fan. Even though he is so famous, he is the most down-to-earth celebrity I have seen, and does a lot of good work.”

On all “special” SPB days, like for instance his birthday, the group organises for members to meet and donate to a charity. Once a year, they also try to get the legendary singer to attend a meet. Then they have a meeting once in three months to discuss their charitable contributions. But apart from that, they meet on the second Saturday of every month between 3 pm and 6 pm at Natesan Park in T Nagar to talk about SPB, his songs, concerts, and events, and even share the technical details of a song or some little nugget of information they have just heard or read about him. “We also try and get tickets at a concession for members of the group,” says Ashok.

Those who want to join the group can contact Seshadhri at 9884924987

kamini.mathai@timesgroup.com

MUSIC FROM THE HEART: Singer SP Balasubramaniam and his fans with disabled children

Article and Photo : Thanks to TIMES OF INDIA